Bliss Farm and the Battle of Gettysburg

This is a reissue of Elwood A. Christ’s classic 1992 book on the fighting around the Bliss farm on July 2, 1863, and its impact on the Battle of Gettysburg.

Christ was a Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide for 32 years, an employee of the Adams County Historical Society, and chief researcher for the David Wills House. A leading expert on the 60-acre Bliss Farm and its role in the battle, in this fast-paced readable study, he argues that the fighting for the farm contributed significantly to George Meades’ victory over Robert E. Lee. He gives an account of the “the destructiveness of the house and barn and how this action contributed to the Union victory.” (pp. ii).

Christ offers a very detailed account of the protracted struggle between some ten regiments of Union and Confederate troops for the Bliss farm on July 2, 1863, which lasted virtually the entire day and into the following morning. By dawn on the 3rd, the farm was still not in Confederate hands, with critical consequences.

Elwood further notes that the Confederate failure to secure the farm had a decisive impact on Robert E. Lee’s massive assault against Cemetery Ridge on July 3rd. The regiments fighting to take the farm were unable to participate in the grand assault. Failure to seize the farm affected the path of the attack, which caused Confederate artilleryman E.P. Alexander to ask for more time for his preliminary bombardment. Additionally, Christ notes that during the grand assault “Ohio soldiers [holding the farm] advanced position and small arms fire hurt Pickett’s forces, and contributed to the removal of the Brockenbrough’s Brigade from continuing during the charge as well as some of Hill’s men from supporting Pettigrew and Trimble” (p. 87).

Christ’s final argument is that had the Bliss Farm been in Confederate hands by the evening of evening of July 2nd, then “Pickett’s Charge” might have been more successful.

In addition to his narrative Christ offers us six excellent appendices, including an order of battle, notes on soldiers killed, and a brief biography of William Bliss. Christ’s maps greatly assists the reader in understanding the roads, the terrain, and the positions of the troops involved in the fighting for the Bliss farm.

The Bliss family had fled their home on July 1st. At the time, it’s unlikely they thought their homestead would become the scene of intense fighting between Union and Confederate soldiers the following day. The battle caused them to lose almost everything they owned, and they never received any compensation for their loss.

This classic work, the first volume of Savas Beatie’s new “Essential Gettysburg Series,” is highly recommended.

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Note: “Over a Wide, Hot . . . Crimson Plain" is also available in e-editions.

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